


Us Off-Colors

by FluffWitch



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Allies on Homeworld, Gen, Growing allies, Homeworld is Horrible, Off color gems, Protective Lars, Slavery (mentioned), some original characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-08 07:17:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11076696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffWitch/pseuds/FluffWitch
Summary: "Because us Off-Colors stick together"Or: Lars's time while on Homeworld and how he helped many stranded gems to dream of --and get to-- Earth.





	1. Group

Homeworld was--surreal. There was no other word to describe the planet he was stranded on, with its extrange residents and climates and customs. So unlike anything he had ever seen, ever imagined, sci-fi movies couldn’t come up with anything remotely close in his opinion.

 

It’s surreal, and Lars’s experience shares that word because one second he was human, the next one he had died, and a second after that he had been brought back to life, not being quite human anymore. It had been a lot to take in, it still  _ was _ a lot to take in but his mind was so focused on other things that the fact he was something like a magical creature was buried at the very back of his mind.

 

His priorities right now were getting the Off-colors and himself to safety, avoiding trouble.

 

Fluorite was the one leading the way, having been hiding among those old tunnels and crevices since she had been a two-gem fusion only. (He still didn’t understood what fusion was, but he could tell it was important, maybe he ought to ask once they were safe.) They went deeper into the kindergarten, lower and lower until the gems had to light the way to see and the air turned cold and awkward to breathe.

 

Rutile was walking along Fluorite, Rhodonite standing a bit behind him and hugging herself with all four arms, keeping a pair of eyes on him and Padparadscha as they walked ahead. The tinier gem of group was calmly smiling and walking by his side, her gem glowing faintly.

 

It was comfortable, sort of. A silence that felt secure, even if slightly odd. Then again, all of them were oddities, it was natural anything they did or shared would be odd.

 

Lars is surprised when the he realizes he doesn’t thinks about ‘they’ or ‘me, but rather ‘we’.

 

Is something that makes him smile a bit, because they would stick together through such a surreal, weird experience.


	2. Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for such positive responses! I never expected this idea to get such attention, thank you!
> 
> I don't know If I'll be able to mantain a schedule when it comes to updating, but I hope I'll have things quickly enough! And of course, I'll try to make the following chapters longer.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

Time is lost to him, there isn’t a notion of day or night while deep in the underground of another world. It was even harder once he realized that a lot of time had passed and he hadn’t felt the need to sleep or eat or drink. There wasn’t tiredness or hunger to feel since his...resurrection.

 

It still felt weird, being completely pink and magic and zombie-like without any human needs and surrounded by alien gem ladies, running and hiding like some sort of outlaws.

 

Lars frowned, then after a second or two shrugged his shoulders. They _technically_ were outlaws, after all.

 

He sighs, looking around the cave they had decided was good enough for now. Rhodonite was the one keeping watch this time, both pair of eyes going in different directions after a moment or so. The Rutile twins were off scouting around the outskirts of the abandoned kindergarten, looking if there were more gems to help or dangers to avoid.

 

Fluorite had curled around herself deep into the cave, all six of her gems giving a faint glow as she slept. Technically none of them needed to sleep, but it was something to do to pass the time.

 

Padparadscha was the only one near, sitting quietly by his side and smiling like she always did, her hands together as if praying and staring at nothing in particular.

 

“Whatcha doing Padds?” Padparadscha was a bit of a mouthful to him, the nickname for the tiny gem came easy and she had been quite taken with it since the first time she had heard it.

 

“Seeing.” Was her answer, still smiling softly and barely moving. Lars knew about Padparadscha’s predictions, it was sort of like being a psychic, only real and...slightly delayed. It was still confusing.

 

“Oh, uh. Alright.”

 

The tiny gem hummed in response, standing still much like a statue. Lars looked around for a bit more, and for a minute he was tempted to follow Fluorite’s example and sleep for an hour or two if only to make time pass quicker.

 

He only got to lay around for a few minutes until he heard hurried footsteps.

 

It was enough to put him on alert. Lars got up, picking up a rock much like the one he had used when fighting off robonoids that other time. Padparadscha was still standing on the same spot and he could only grab her arm and tug her deeper inside the cave.

 

“Pad--”

 

“Rutile!”

 

There’s panic in Rhodonite’s voice, but then again, she’s always shaky and anxious, still, it’s enough to call his attention. The Rutile twins came running towards them, faces taunt and eyes wide, there was something cradled between in their hands but he didn’t had the time to ask what.

 

“Everyone, hide! / Quickly, hide!”

 

Their voices are hissed, panicky and just a little bit guilty. It's not even a three seconds later and everyone is already hidden from view, between rocks or crevices or inside small caves, coated in complete darkness.

 

It’s only a few seconds later, when the familiar, _dreaded_ red light of scanning robonoids appeared from the slim entrance Rutile had used.

 

Padparadscha gasped, tiny body pressed against the now awake Fluorite and her voice barely above a whisper. “Oh no, the Rutile twins will be followed by robonoids!”

 

Lars hissed, his slow heartbeat barely picking up as he stared at the red lights. Fighting was--risky, even revived, even if he didn’t felt the hunger and dehydration that was with him the first time he had seen the robots, even if he was sturdier than before, it was a risk he wasn’t sure he wanted to take just yet. Hidding was a safer, smarter option.

 

He stood quiet, no one moving a muscle until the robonoids finally retreated to whatever rock they crawled from. Everyone stood like that for a few moments, just to be safe. 

 

“I think it’s safe to come out now.”

 

“It...seems like...it.”

 

Lars stepped out first, then Fluorite, followed by Padparadscha. Rhodonite came out from her hidding spot looking as anxious as ever, the Rutile twins following her with unease on their faces.

 

“You okay, Rutile?”

 

“We are. / They didn’t harm us.” Came the response, small smiles on their faces that looked just a little bit forced. “But.../ We can’t say the same for…”

 

And then they saw it.

 

There, clutched in their hands was a gemstone. It was smooth, of a green color with splashed blacks and a hairline crack going from side to side, almost right in the middle. The gems gasped, Rhodonite looking horrified while Fluorite and Padparadscha covered their mouths. Rutile grimaced, looking at the gem with pity and worry.

 

Lars didn’t understood, not fully. He remembered Steven saying something about ‘shattering’ gems, and Padparadscha telling him how robonoids targeted gems and gems only. A cracked one must be a hurt one.

 

“Oh my.”

 

“W...Who is that?”

 

“Rutile.” Interrupted Fluorite, voice slow and soothing. “What...happened?”

 

“We we’re scouting the area, like we always do. / We saw a robonoid and tried to sneak back without being seen. / But there was someone there. / She was--scared. / And hurt. / We saw her hit her gem and the robonoids…”

 

There was silence, a quiet realization that nobody could go against.

 

“We couldn’t leave her there.”

 

* * *

 

 

They decided to keep moving after that. Their safe spot wasn’t safe anymore and the robonoids just kept getting closer and closer. Fluorite had pointed towards a cavern that, according to her memory, would eventually go up ways, though only one way could be accessible as part of the kindergarten had collapsed over most entrances a long, long time ago.

 

They decided to take the cracked gem with them, and now it was safely secured in the deeps of Lars’s jean pockets. No one had any idea when it would reform, but they would keep their eyes on it.

 

“Lars?”

 

“Huh?”

 

They don’t stop walking, but Lars does slow down so Padparadscha could catch up. She looked unperturbed, hands still clasped tightly in front of her and her ever present smile on her face.

 

“Can you tell us more about the Earth?”

 

The gems smile at this, Lars shrugs his shoulders and smiles back.

 

“Sure.” He replies, still walking ahead. He swears he can actually see something like a spec of light in the distance, though it might just be a luminous stone. “What do you want to know about?”

 

“Everything!”

 

He laughs, quietly. “That’ll take some time.”

 

“Well, we have time.” Answers Rhodonite. Rutile nods their heads in agreement. “Don’t we?”

 

“The Earth...I would like...to know more about it...too.”

 

He smiles, no one stops walking as he tells them tidbits about Earth. About the beach and seashells and seagulls, just anything from the top of his head. The gems listen with rapturous attention, gasping softly and marveling at the planet that they would, hopefully, see with their own eyes.


	3. Reformed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I've come up with a schedule now. If we're all lucky then I'll be able to update this fic once a week! Let's hope this works for us.
> 
> Again, thank you so much for every kudos, bookmark and comment! I never expected this kind of attention for this story, I'll try to keep up!
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy :)

Lars isn’t sure how much time had passed since he sent Steven back home. Days or weeks, months? He had lost count a while ago.

 

He tries not to think about it too much, about that and home and the people he knew, because as much as he could trust the Off Colors he still was embarrassed about crying in front of them, about crying in general. It was better to just keep going forwards and push his family and friends to a corner of his mind, able to think of them once the heartache wasn’t so painful.

 

They finally, _finally_ decided to go towards the surface. Slightly, just a bit. They quickly decided that the right side of the kindergarten was completely off limits, with robonoids often stationed there and something Rhodonite had called a ‘roaming eye’ often checking in and out, no doubt still looking for him and Steven after that whole courtroom fiasco.

 

Lars shakes his head, following the rest of the gems as they kept going upwards. The cave system was almost, well, magical. Luminescent stones coming from above their heads, saving the gems from having to use their own light and making it just a little bit easier to move forwards, it’s almost pretty, in a very unnatural sense, shining a pale blue and indigo that led their way.

 

“So, uh. What’s the plan now?”

 

Rutile tilts one of their heads, smiling at him. “Find a safe way to leave the kindergarten. / But for now, find a safe place to hide. / Until the robonoids look over the area. / Then we’ll keep moving.”

 

“There is a...good place...further in.” Fluorite nodded to herself, body moving slowly. “A bit...cramped...but it is safe...for us to stay there.”

 

“Anything is better than staying back there.” Murmured Rhodonite, her lower arms hugging her torso. “How are you holding up Lars?”

 

“Uh, I’m good.” He answered with a shrug. Honestly, ‘good’ was maybe the least accurate word to describe the whole ordeal, but it was the only thing that came to mind. “I’m not hungry or tired or anything.”

 

“Hungry?”

 

“Yeah, uh, humans need to eat when we get hungry, to stay alive and stuff.”

 

“Oh!” Rhodonite looked surprised, then a bit worried. “Well, that’s important to keep in mind.”

 

“Tell us when you feel hungry!” Padparadscha pipped up, hastening to his side and tugging slightly at his hand. “So you can ... _'eat'_?”

 

Lars smiled down at her, trying not to wince at the thought that maybe he wasn’t going to feel hunger for a long, long time.

 

“Sure.”

 

* * *

 

 

Their new hiding place was further away than any of the others he had been in. They were definitely moving up, being able to see most of the kindergarten from the cave they had chosen, catching glimpses of metal and red lights far, far away from them.

 

The gem inside Lars’s pocket still hadn’t 'reformed', whatever that meant. It felt just like another rock to him, and sometimes out of having something to do he would trace his index finger over the hairline crack, only to stop himself and think that, maybe, it was like probing an open wound for the gem. He stopped fidgeting with it after that, instead, running his fingers through his now pink hair.

 

Thinking that he had some sort of pocket dimension inside his head--hair? was confusing, maybe a bit frightening, but it was a escape route for Steven and, maybe if it was the time or if danger was just too close, for the Off Colors too.

 

“Lars?”

 

“Oh! Uh, hey, Rutile.”

 

“You okay there? / You zoned out for a minute.”

 

“Yeah, just...thinking, it’s all.”

 

The Rutile twins looked at him in confusion, and Lars made a noncommittal noise. “Just about stuff, you know? This planet, what happened, being pink…”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Are you sure you guys don’t wanna just...hop on and go to Earth through the pocket dimension thingie?”

 

Both heads frowned at him. “Lars, we’ve told you already. / We’re not leaving without you.”

 

He sighed, the answer was always the same. He couldn't help the faint flush of pleased embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah. Just...if something happens though…”

 

“If something happens, we’ll deal with it. / We’ll handle it, don’t worry.”

 

He smiled, nodded. They walked towards the rest to spent the ‘night’.

 

* * *

 

 

It happens in the middle of their rest, suddenly, with no prompting whatsoever that could have told them except the faint shine Lars noticed came from his pockets.

 

The gemstone, cracked and shining like a faraway star felt as cold as ever, as normal as any other rock, but Lars still held it with a shaky hand and kept it as far away from his body and the off colors as he could. The gemstone gently left his fingers, actually floating in midair.

 

“Oh my! The gem is going to reform!”

 

“Padparadscha, get back! You don’t know who is--”

 

Rhodonite barely had a second to freak out about the tiny gem. The green gemstone shone brightly for a few more seconds before something much like some sort of anatomical puppet formed around it, the gemstone embedded in one of its thighs as the doll-like form floated in front of them, taking a more elaborated shape before the shine faded away just as sudden as it had appeared.

 

In front of them was a woman --girl?-- Barely Rutile’s height with green skin, something like black stripes and freckles on her face, a mane of wild hair that could easily be called a rat’s nest came to view.

 

The off-colors stared at her. Lars felt his mouth hung open as he took a step back, half terrified and amazed as the girl _\--gem?--_ looked around with confusion, maybe even a bit of fear until her eyes, both a very unnatural green color too, fell on Rutile.

 

She made odd sounds with her mouth that send shivers down his spine, sounding like gurgles and hisses one would hear from an animal in a horror movie, and the fact that Lars could see the very pointy teeth in her mouth didn't help at all. She seemed lost, confused at the sounds coming from her own mouth before actual words could be uttered as she traced a finger over the crack on her gem.

 

“...Y-you saved me...”

 

The Rutiles offered a small smile much like how they had done with him and Steven. The mismatched gem blinked, cocked her head to the side like a thoughtful bird and hesitantly smiled back.


	4. Maw sit-sit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! Let's hope we can keep up with this schedule ;v;  
> Thank you all for your kind comments, I hope you keep up with this story, I'm having so much fun writing it!  
> Enjoy <3

 

Lars didn’t know what to think of Maw, other than despite the situation she was in she was too peppy and talkative and so much like Steven that they could have been separated at birth.

 

Apparently, she was an era three gem, whatever that meant, and she had  _ technically _ been a pilot under Yellow Diamond’s command, though she held more interest in knowing how a ship would work rather than making it fly herself. She was a faulty pilot, an absentminded gem that had crashed one too many ships and her Agate had cracked her gem out of frustration and anger, it didn’t took long for Maw sit sit to be up for harvesting.

 

“That’s okay.” Padparadscha had patted the green gem’s hand after this one had gone silent, completely unafraid of her. “I was going to be harvested, too, but we’re safe now.”

 

Somehow that statement made Lars’s stomach churn uncomfortably, even if he didn’t know what ‘being harvested’ meant, he could tell it was punishment though, and that’s the only thing he needed to know to be completely against it.

 

“It’s just--hard.” She had pouted, sticking close to Rutile, finding them fascinating and, maybe, trusting them more than the other Off Colors. They were the ones who had found her, after all. For some reason she seemed rather...afraid of Fluorite and Rhodonite. “All the controls, the commands...I-I can do it! I really can! Just...just not like the others.”

 

They understood, how couldn’t they? Homeworld wasn’t a forgiving place, especially towards those who didn’t fit in within their rules.

 

Lars sighed, offering a small smile that the gem hesitantly returned. “Guess you’re like the rest of us, then.”

 

Maw sit-sit gave a small, hesitant, relieved laugh that sounded like a bird’s thrill.

 

* * *

 

 

They didn’t move for a while, content with just staying there and trying to plan ahead. Lars still held onto the pocket dimension option, most of the gems were in for sneaking off the planet together. Maw sit-sit was in for leaving Homeworld after learning about the Earth and how it hadn’t been destroyed by the Diamond Authority.

 

“Is the Earth really still there?”

 

Lars nodded, he still didn’t fully understood why they would think it wasn’t. “Yeah, last time I checked.”

 

“How is it?”

 

He couldn’t really describe it, not truly. “It’s...agh, I don’t know how to say it.”

 

Maw sit-sit cocked her head to the side, waiting patiently with a silent hiss.

 

“It’s…” How could one describe the Earth to aliens that were under some sort of monarchy? “It’s beautiful and all that junk. You can just...exist there, I guess. Be free and...and all of that. No giant Diamonds to tell you what to do, no harvesting either. It’s just...nice.”

 

God, he sounded so lame. He was pretty sure he was blushing from embarrassment. “Uh…”

 

Maw smiled as gently as she could with her pointed teeth, thrilling quietly. “That does sounds beautiful.”

 

* * *

 

 

With the mention of Earth came more questions, some about the planet, about the people. Maw sit-sit asked about him.

 

“Are you cracked, too?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Your face, there’s a crack in your eye.”

 

“No, that’s a scar.” A rather ugly one at that, he thought. Maybe he ought to cover it with his hair. “Humans get them when wounds don’t, uh, heal properly and stuff…”

 

“Are you really a human?”

 

“Yeah. I mean, I think I still am…?” Lars frowned, the thought of his humanity, or lack of, was still deeply uncomfortable to him, and most likely pushed away out of some sort of trauma. “It’s complicated.”

 

The newest addition to the off colors tilts her head, chirping much like a bird before speaking coherently. “You look like a Kunzite to me, but lankier.”

 

“I’m not.”

 

“Okay.”

 

* * *

 

 

_ ‘Go up, don’t stop’ _ was their mantra for a while. After some time that sort of felt like days they had come up with a half baked plan for escaping, Lars still wasn’t too sure about it, none of the off-colors were, but it was the best they had instead of turning to the plan of leaving him behind.

 

_ Go up, don’t stop. Find a way off the planet, get back home. _

 

It sounded so simple when they put it that way. Almost like a stupid movie-logic that he and Sadie would laugh at and throw popcorn at the screen whenever the character that came up with it appeared on the scene. 

 

Thinking of Sadie hurt, he realized. He had to stop.

 

“We should be there soon.”

 

“Be where soon?”

 

“Up.”

 

“I think there should be some spires above us.” Pipped Maw, head cocked to the side and hissing. “I remember passing some of them before falling in.”

 

“Spires?”

 

“Places for...aristocrat gems…”

 

“If I see another spire again, it will be too soon.” Muttered Rhodonite, lower arms crossed over her torso and a frown on her face. “My... _ our _ ...Morganite used to spend decades in spires.” She confessed with no small amount of discomfort. “Besides, what about the gems that go there?”

 

“Blue Diamond hardly bothers with them anymore, and her court hasn’t been around some of them in at least a thousand years! We could use them to hide, even if just for a bit.”

 

Lars winced a little bit, running a hand through his hair, being near anything that was an alien queen’s property was far from something he wanted to do. “Is there a second option in here or…?”

 

“Temples, I guess…?” The gem clicked her tongue, gurgles coming from it before speaking again, this time less sure of herself. “I mean...I  _ was _ in Yellow Diamond’s court, so I wouldn’t know…”

 

“I might...know of something…” Fluorite spoke, voice soft and all four of her hands folded together, she got everyone’s attention immediately. “There was a...place...for training duty a long...long time ago...it might still be there...abandoned.”

“Oh? / Where?”

 

“An arena low below...nearing Yellow Diamond’s court…”

 

“Oh…”

 

“Listen, let’s just keep going step by step, alright?” Lars admitted, feeling vaguely nervous with so many eyes on him as the center of attention. “Let’s try to sneak past the robonoids and get to the surface first, then we’ll...we’ll call a shot.”

 

There are murmurs of agreement and nods at this, there is a strange sort of tension in the air that came out of sheer nervousness alone. The thought of going to the surface after willingly being hidden for eons in the deeps of the kindergarten was nerve wracking.

 

The red lights from the robonoids disappear in the distance, most likely scouting for any gem that was out of place in the abandoned kindergarten. Lars gulps, taking a nearby stalagmite much like that other time and ushering the gems inside a tunnel, all of the Off Colors quickly leading the way into another tunnel, disappearing inside. He couldn’t quite put his feelings into words, and even with the uncertainty of what lied beyond the kindergarten, anything would be better than staying there.

**Author's Note:**

> We can all agree that Wanted left us in the dust and Lars went through the most incredible character development.
> 
> This will be oneshots of Lars's time while on Homeworld and around the Off-color gems. It will be a growing group, and I will try to keep the history Lars centric.
> 
> Read and review, thank you!


End file.
